By Daisy Luther
Welcome to Foodie Friday, healthy choices edition! When we make better food choices for our families, we end up with healthier families. Today, we’ll discuss how to make these choices a little bit more convenient, some news you need to know, and how to keep it all within budget by eating seasonally.
This feature will be chock-full of all things food related: news, preservation, and delicious real food recipes. As always, I really hope you’ll share your links and ideas in the comments below. As well, we’ll have a question of the week on each Foodie Friday post.
Cookbooks
Are you lucky enough to have wild game in your freezer? If you hunt or have access to game, this is the book you have to have. When she was younger, author Stacy Harris never realized that marrying a hunter would turn her cooking world upside down. Boy, am I glad it did! This absolutely gorgeous book will teach you how to prepare all sorts of wild game and fish. Her recipes combine classic Southern style with the flair of a gourmet chef. Happy Healthy Family Tracking the Outdoors In is a must-have addition for those who are new to preparing game as well as those who have been preparing it ever since they stepped into the kitchen. (ORDER HERE)
Get your heart (and all the rest of you) healthy. This book isn’t a cookbook, but it’s a must-read for anyone embarking on a quest for good health. Cardiologist Jack Wolfson turned the medical establishment on its ear with his theories about nutrition. The Paleo Cardiologist is a great read that explains in understandable terms why you have to kick the USDA health pyramid to the curb if you want to be healthy. (ORDER HERE)
Foodie Friday News
Some farms in California are using chemical-laden oil company wastewater to grow the food they’re selling to us. When I learned of this, I was shocked, but not nearly as surprised as I was to realize that I had some of the produce lurking innocently in my crisper drawer in the fridge. This is a very important article that provides the brand names of the companies that are growing the food you eat with wastewater. Please, read it and share it.
You probably won’t be surprised to hear that organic farming is better, but you’ll be shocked by who published it. In an article I never expected to see in a mainstream outlet, Time Magazine published a pro-organic article that suggests the method of farming just might be the answer to all of our woes. It was based on a compilation of 40 years of data, which the author summed up by saying, “If I had to put it in one sentence, organic agriculture has been able to provide jobs, be profitable, benefit the soil and environment and support social interactions between farmers and consumers. In some ways, there are practices in organic agriculture that really are ideal blueprints for us to look at feeding the world in the future.”
Speaking of organic, a school in California is under fire for peddling “anti-GMO propaganda.” A school district just north of San Francisco recently incorporated a program of serving only organic, non-GMO food to students, to great applause from those who don’t want to see kids fed a diet of genetically modified, goverment-subsidized garbage. The Genetic Literacy Project is not applauding at all, as you can see in this snark-filled essay about how the school is “brainwashing” the children by teaching them a different view of GMOs than the biotech industry would like to see. In fact, the author goes as far as to make the outrageous claim that organic food uses more pesticide than round-up doused GMOs crops.
Sugar is the devil. As much of a sweet tooth as I have, it’s beginning to be very clear that sugar is the root of much dietary evil. 🙁 To make matters worse, evidence is mounting that sugar is actually addictive, in the same way that heroin and cocaine are addictive. This fascinating report tells you about the addiction and how to break the cycle.
Pistachios and macadamia nut products recalled due to Salmonella. Be sure to keep up with food recalls. This week, nuts seem to be the food poisoning source to avoid. Braga Organic Farms pistachios have been recalled due to potential Salmonella contamination, and Mahina Mele Farms has expanded a recall of macadamia nuts and macadamia nut butter for the same reason. Get the details here.
Food Preservation
Have you ever thought about planning your garden based on what you like to preserve? I always add extra tomato plants because we dearly love our tomato products, but Granny Miller takes it to a whole new level. THIS is my planting guide for the year – you’re going to love it! (PS: It’s absolutely free!)
Got mandarins? Assuming they aren’t the wastewater ones mentioned in the article above, take advantage of the good price of in-season mandarins and can them so you can enjoy them year round. This is a no-sugar recipe – just sweet, citrusy goodness.
I made waaaay too much jam this year. (Not that this is unusual.) Do you have an excess of jam? Here are 12 delicious ways to use your home-canned jams and jellies, and not one of them includes the word “toast.”
Speaking of using up your home-canned goodies….Do you ever wonder how to use up all the deliciousness you preserved last summer? With spring quickly approaching, it’s time to get with it. Here are some creative ideas for incorporating home-canned food into your meals.
What to Eat This Week
What’s cooking for Superbowl Sunday? Full disclosure: I’m not a football person. *ducks* That being said, you’d have to be unplugged from the internet entirely not to realize that the Superbowl is on this weekend. And you’re not unplugged from the internet or you wouldn’t be here, reading this. If you happen to be having a get-together, here is a round-up of 19 fantastic game-day recipes (I’m probably not going to watch the game but I’m definitely planning to make some of that delicious food) and also a link to a recipe for a fantastic homemade barbecue sauce for use in your own Superbowl Sunday creations.
A hands-off hot breakfast recipe. This versatile baked oatmeal recipe is like a cross between an oatmeal cookie and a bowl of porridge. Personally, I’m not a fan of hot cereal, but this has a little crunch to it. There are also instructions for adapting the recipe to whatever you have on hand.
Do you have any trips planned soon? The thing about going away that can be difficult is being away from your kitchen and your healthy food sources. As the parent of a child with food intolerances, I spend a lot of time worrying about things I don’t prepare myself, making road trips or longer vacation fraught with stress and label-reading. I loved this guide to eating real food, even when you’re away from home.
You bought some seasonal veggies…now what on earth do you do with them? Most folks have gotten away from eating things like turnips and rutabagas, and have no idea what to do with the lumpy, unfamiliar produce. That’s a shame, because these in-season goodies are frugal, nutritious, and very, very tasty. Worry no more. I’ve got you covered. Check out these simple instructions for cooking turnips, celeriac, and rutabagas.
More seasonal veggie ideas…Some other vegetables that aren’t leaping off the grocery store shelves into the carts of shoppers are kohlrabi and beets. However, after you check out what this blogger did with 40 whopping pounds of kohlrabi and another writer’s step-by-step guide to using beets and beet greens, you might make your own run on the produce aisle and greedily load up on them.
Having issues with your sourdough? If you are trying to get going with sourdough but running into snags, this Q&A may have the answers you need.
Products
Coupon for organic coffee: Have you ever tried Marley Organic Coffees? Ethically grown in Jamaica by the family of reggae king, Bob Marley, it’s absolutely delicious and my favorite brand. Even when it’s not discounted, I find the price reasonable for a high-quality organic coffee. Go through this link to get 20% off. (Offer good at the time of posting.) ORDER HERE.
The Emergency Food Defender Pack: If you’re stocking up on Emergency Food, take a look at NuManna’s Defender Nutritive Pack. Not only does it have tasty, non-GMO emergency food, but it also includes additional superfoods to boost your nutrition. Each pack contains the following supplemental goodies: Organic Quinoa,Organic Black Chia Seeds, Organic Sprouting Seeds, Organic Brown Jasmine Rice, Parboiled Rice, and Organic Spelt (ORDER HERE)
Want fresh greens all year long? This handy growing system gets you herbs and veggies 5 times faster than growing them in soil. Right now, it’s $100 off the regular price. (ORDER HERE)
Foodie Friday Sound-off: What are some of the healthy choices you’ve made recently?
This week’s Foodie Friday question: Have you made any changes to what your family eats recently in order to keep everyone healthier? What are some of the healthy choices you’ve made, and have you noticed a difference since you made them?
Are you doing some scratch cooking or food preserving this week? Are you making anything special for a Superbowl Sunday gathering?
Dish with me in the comments below!
To eat health the past 2 weeks, we have cut out most carbs and keep clean, cut up veggies handy in the frig. I stopped put my veggies in the crisper drawers because we would forget about them and they would go bad. Now I can’t keep them in stock.
I’ve been trying to be Primal, leaning towards Paleo, for a couple of years, and yes, I’ve noticed good changes. For example, this Winter a bout of a cold/flu bug thing was making the rounds, just about everyone around me was sick with it. I attribute me not getting it because I ate quite a bit of KimChi along with sardines in olive oil on the side. I don’t know why, but I get this, “Ew, yuk. get away from me” response when I mention it to my better half. Yeesh, it’s not like when I eat a clove or two of raw garlic. …Is it?
Raw garlic has killed some pain for me a number of times when things like Turmeric didn’t even phase it.
I picked up several new home-made concoctions of KimChi today at the farmers market, I’m hooked on that stuff.
Another difference I noticed: while working a job doing 12hr shifts I usually ate a handful of almonds, a few carrots and maybe an apple for lunch, most of the others ate things like giant sandwiches with huge slices of bread piled high with meat and sugary sauce and not much else, followed up with some potato chips. Often I would see them an hour or so later working on the shop floor with work in one hand and another sandwich in the other hand and I overheard one of them a number of times say something like, “I don’t know how they do it!? I’d be hungry, I HAVE to eat something extra”.
I really never had any hunger pains or felt like I – needed – to eat while on the shop floor, like they did. I think the vegetables, the nuts, and avoiding the carbs was the difference. I didn’t get ‘hangry’ like they did either.
Also, Pam wrote, “keep clean, cut up veggies handy”
I think that’s a key thing. If there’s something not already cut up, I might ignore it or forget about it, too. But if it’s cut up and ready, that’s a different story.
The nuts contain important amino acids that feed the brain. They actually curb cravings. Taurine is very important for chocolate cravings. It means you need it.
Oh, couple of other things. I’ve been trying turnips the last few months. I Never in a million years thought I would like them, but, surprisingly, I do. Some varieties more than others, and some methods of cooking them more than others, too.
By the time I get around to cooking them the nice leafy greens are soggy and unappealing so I don’t use them. Is there something you do to the greens before you cook them? Do you cut them off right away and put them in a bag or plop them in a jar with water?
I suppose I should experiment and find out myself but I just never get around to it, and while I can read about economics and technical things for hours on end, my eyes tend to get glazed over when I try reading about cooking or vegetable prep. or I just bookmark the article for later and later never comes. …So far, that seldom happens while reading your stuff.
Also, this next week I’m going to be making my second ever batch of bone broth. The first was beef, this one will be chicken.
I’ve read that using chicken feet is The way to go, so I got some. It came in a much bigger package than I expected. I hope more, is better. And, I hope all you have to do is put them in the crock pot without doing anything else. And, wow did I ever get strange reactions when I bought them, the same as I got with KimChi and sardines. There’s just no account for good taste these days, surprisingly, not even from the farmers wife,… who had no clue about what to do with them.
As I re-read that, when I wrote, “And, I hope all you have to do is put them in the crock pot without doing anything else.” I didn’t mean, things like, put vinegar in or add spices, I meant, do you have to do anything to the chicken pieces themselves? Cut them up, pre-cook them, slice them open, that sort of thing.
[Note to self: proof-read better.]
Ok, so when I put the chicken feet on a tray I decided I better look it up and make sure I’m not doing anything too terribly wrong. (Turns out I was about to.) I found this method and recipe, wow is it ever the most cooking I’ve ever done, I hope I haven’t bitten off more than I can chew:
http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_stock_from_chicken_feet/